Water-closet attachment.



No. 658,685. I Patented Sept. 25, I900. N. sTow.

WATER CLOSET ATTACHMENT.

(Applies-Gian filed June 21, 1900.

(No Model.)

lhvrrn PATENT OFFICE.

NELSON STOW, OF BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO S. ANDRAL KILMER, OF SAME PLACE.

WATER-CLOSET ATTACH M ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 658385, dated September 25, 1900. Application filed June 21, 1900. Serial No. 21,120. (No model.)

T to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NELSON STOW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Binghamton, in the county of Broome and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Water-Closet Attachment, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a water-closet seat attachment, and pertains more particularly IO to means whereby an absolutely-fresh seatsurface for each use of a water-closet may be had; and the object of the same is to provide the lid or cover with holding devices or a receptacle to receive a series of superposed separable sheets of paper or other suitable material which are individually let down for use when the seat or coveris raised, and thereby permit the body of a person to come into contact with one sheet only and avoid soiling the remaining sheets or causing them to become contaminated by contagious and poisonous transmissions, and, furthermore, to preventthe unused sheetsin bulk from becoming wet or damp, which is liable to occur in 2 5 those forms of closet attachments having the sheets of material continuously resting on the seat.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention primarily consists in a water-closet seat lid or cover having a re- 5 the use thereof is completed and then removed by separation.

The invention further consists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts,which will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a water-closet having a lid or cover embodying the features of the invention, the said lid or cover being raised and one of the 5 separable sheets let down on the seat in operative position. Fig. 2 is an enlarged front end elevation of the lid or cover. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of a portion of the lid or cover and the seat. Fig. 4 is a sectional 5o elevation of a portion of the seat and the lid or cover to particularly illustrate one of the sheet-holding devices of the lid or cover. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a plurality of the sheets, showing the means for holding them in united relation.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts in the'several views.

The numeral 1 designates a bowl of suitable or preferred form, having a seat 2, dis- 6o posed on the upper portion thereof and provided with the usual opening 3 of elliptical contour. To the rear of the seat a lid or cover 4 is hinged, so that it can be readily raised or lowered, as usual, and in the said latter device resides the feature of the invention which contributes to the effective operation and useful application of the sheets to the seat and the preservation of the unused bulk.

To the inner surface of the lid or cover, at the opposite sides, grooved retainers 5 are located and form a receptacle in conjunction with the said lid or cover, the retainers converging regularly from the outer free end of the lid or cover toward the inner hinged end of the same, and the outer walls of the grooves of the retainers,being formed parallel with the outer side edges of the lid or cover, will run clear of the said retainers adjacent the rear edge of the seat, as clearly indicated by Figs. 1 and 4. Within the retainers pads 6,0f superposed sheets of paper or other suitable-material, are placed and slipped endwise into the grooves of said retainers from the free end of the lid or cover, each pad having the one end of each sheet separably secured to a strip 7 which is located near the rear end of the seat when the pad is applied and so that the outer unattached ends of the said sheets will be positioned at the front end of' the lid or cover for conven- 9o ient engagement in operating the same. The pad completely covers the inner surface of the lid or cover between the retainers and from the front to the rear ends, and in the center thereof are partially-separated flaps or tongues S, of approximately the same form as and adapted to aline with the opening in the seat when the individual sheets are let down,

as shown by Fig. l, a recess being formed in the rear central portion of each flap or tongue, 1 00 as at 9, for convenience in disposing the same in relation to the seat. The portion of each flap or tongue diametrically opposite the recess thereof is continuous with its sheet to form a hinge, which will be located at the front central portion of the seat when the sheet is applied, as shown by Fig. 1, and a protection at the front is also thus provided with obvious advantages.

To hold the free ends of the sheets at the outer end of the lid or cover against loose movement, a pivoted clip 10 is employed and applied to the outer free edge of the lid or cover. This clip comprises a body-bar 11, movably fitted in looped plates 12 and formed with angularly-disposed inwardly-directed end arms 13 to normally bear with considerable lension against the outer unattached ends of the sheets, as shown by Figs. 1 and 3, and at a central or intermediate point the said body-bar is formed or provided with an outstanding loop 14 to serve as a handle or grip. To maintain the arms 13 in holding contact with the sheets, a spring 15 is coiled around a portion of the body-bar to one side of the loop and connected at one terminal to the latter, and the opposite terminal of said spring is continued into the form of a bracearm 16,which bears against the adjacent portion of the end of the lid or cover. By having the tension of the spring 15 sufliciently strong to overbalance the weight of the lid or cover the loop 14 can also be made to eificiently serve as a handle or grip for use in raising and lowering the said lid or cover without interfering with the desirable function of thearms 13; but by forcefully overcoming the tension of the spring by a pressure exerted on the body-bar in the proper direction the said arms 13 can be readily cleared from the sheets, so that the latter may be used as desired. It will also be seen that the sheets are intended to completely cover the upper seat-surface, and the proportions of the coacting parts will always-be regulated with this object in View. It is also intended to medicate or otherwise treat the sheets to render them more effective in the performance of their function.

When it is desired to use one of the sheets, the arms 13 are thrown outward to clear the same, and it is then grasped and drawn away or clear of the retainers and then turned down over the seat, the tongue or flap being depressed, as shown by Fig. 1. The lower portions of the sheets are always clear in view of the convergence of the retainers toward the rear of the seat, and by this convergence .also cramping or crumpling of the several sheets as they are disposed in operative position is avoided, the distance between the retainers in a transverse direction adjacent the rear of the seat being less than the width of the sheets. When the sheets are brought down for use, as shown, their rear portions remain intact with the lower end of the pad to thereby prevent them from becoming displaced while in use, and after each sheet has served its purpose it is torn off or separated from-the lower portion of the pad and de posited in the bowl ofthe closet to pass off through the Waste-pipe,or it may be destroyed in any other manner.

The adv-ants e of the protection afforded by the use of the sheets is of course primarily considered; but the most essential advantage is resident in having the sheets normally clear of the seat and carried and movable with the lid or cover, so that they will not become wet or damp or be subject to permeation with disease germs or contagious transmissions, and which is extremely dangerous in those closets having the bulk of sheets always held on the seat. Moreover, the pad composed of the superposed sheets held against the inner side of the lid or coverwill form a convenient cushion against which to rest the back of the person using the closet, and the facility for replacing an exhausted pad is also of material importance.

Though the preferred form of the device has been illustrated and descriptively disclosed, it is obviously apparent that changes in the form, size, proportions, and minor details may be resorted to without departing from the principle of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. A lid or cover for a water-closet or the like having a receptacle on the inner side thereof formed by opposite seats having the inner extremities of the retaining portions thereof separated by a greater transverse space between them than at the outer extremities of the same, and a pad removably located in said receptacle and composed of a series of superposed sheets secured exclusively at one end, the secured ends of the sheets being situated in the greater transverse space between the inner extremities of the retaining portions of the seats so that a disengagement of the outer portion of each sheet will cause it to automatically fall over the closet-seat or rest below in operative position.

2. A lid or cover for a water-closet or the like having a receptacle on the inner side thereof formed by opposite seats having the inner extremities of the retaining portions of the same of less transverse extent than the outer extremities of the same, and a pad composed of a series of superposed sheets secured at one end exclusively and slidably and removably mounted in the said seats.

3. A lid or cover for a water-closet or the like having retaining devices on the inner opposite portions thereof which are gradually diminished in width from the outer toward the inner end of the lid or cover,- and a pad composed of a plurality of superposed sheets secured at one end exclusively and removably mounted in the retaining devices, the secured ends of the sheets being disposed adjacent the rear end of the closet seat or rest.

- L In a water-closet attachment, the combination with a seat having an opening therein, of a lid or cover having retainers on the inner surface thereof converging toward the outer end of the same, and a pad removably mounted in the retainers and composed of a plurality of sheets having movable tongues.

5. In a water-closet attachment, the combination With a seat having an opening therein, of a lid or cover having retainers on the inner surface thereof converging toward the outer end of the said lid or cover, a pad held by said retainers and composed of a plurality of separable sheets having tongues and con nected at the ends adjacent the point of attachment of the lid or cover and free at their opposite ends, and a clip for holding the free ends of the sheets of the pad.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

- NELSON STOW.

Witnesses:

O. E. DOYLE, CHARLES S. HYER. 

